Many people scoff at the thought of having to ‘clean their diet’. (Again, not a fan of the word ‘diet’, prefer to use nutrition or food sources). It sounds exhausting and as if it would involve a lot of kale and brussel sprouts? If you’re seeking to clean your lifestyle and eat 100% raw, then yes, your food sources will involve fruits, vegetables, seeds, nuts, legumes, etc. However, there are very easy swit ...

At the end of 2013, I found myself challenging the ‘superwoman complex’ again. A year ago on Mother’s Day, I wrote a blog post for The SkinLess Project on being a supermom, and contended that every mother had a bit of supermom in her. I still maintain that belief, however what I’ve come to realize is that wanting to be a superwoman, or wanting to have it all is overrated. What is the ‘it’ we’re chasing anyw ...

The mantra is quite possibly the best secret weapon you could have during a race. The more thought you put into it, the more meaning it carries, and the more profound the results. For myself, so much of racing and mid distance running is buried in the conversation I have with myself on the pavement. In my last race, I had a slight pain in my left ankle (dorsal flexion) starting around mile 1 and lasted for ...

Disclaimer: I was inspired to write this post after reading some #runchat comments between a couple of bloggers, check them out here> http://www.happyfitmama.com/life-lessons-running/ andwww.pavementrunner.com. It’s definitely a list that I’ve thought of over the last several years, and resonates with me in daily life. “Be Somebody”. “Be Somebody” This is what ultramarathoner Scott Jurek signed in ...

Preventative care is what drew me into the field of public health. Instead of treating disease, why not take steps to take care of yourself before it’s too late. Prevent trips to the hospital, prevent disease, prevent illness. What are some measures you currently take to ensure you and your family live a healthy life? As my graduate school professor used to say, there is a public health impact in everything ...

Stress is good for you, both the good and the bad.  We all have different thresholds or limits of stress, and knowing these so-called ‘tipping points’ coupled with the ability to manage your cortisol (one of three stress hormones) is important part of maintaining a balanced life.  We experience ‘challenge stress’.  Anyone who has ever given a presentation or faced a crowd has experienced it. Last week, I ha ...

Many years ago, I read a beautiful article in a newspaper about a couple that had made it to a milestone anniversary.  What was their secret? The newspaper had asked.  Equity, the woman stated, not equality, had kept them together for years and years, happy and as united as ever. Equity should be understood in this article as fairness, and equality as sameness. (Equity within marriage in this article is not ...

Recently I ran a half marathon and in order to make the miles pass by, I dedicated each mile to someone in my life who inspires me to be a better person.  I considered each and every trait of that person for the entire mile, and my mom was one of them.  In light of Mother’s Day, I want to take a moment to share some of my thoughts from race day on this woman who raised me to be the confident, happy, indepen ...

A leading indicator of health status is a country’s maternal mortality ratio.  This is the number of women who die during pregnancy or childbirth per 100,000 births.  That ratio in the United States is approximately 21, according to the World Health Organization.  This ratio is similar to Chile, Turkey and Lebanon.  A sampling of countries ahead of the US is: Australia (7), Canada (12), and Finland (5).  I ...

The world is against me! Does this sound like something you have said or would say?  Emotional self-harm is a very heavy topic these days with both young people and adults, producing very low self-esteem and self image.  Physical self-harm, also referred to as cutting, is a form of self-harm, often brought on by other psychological issues.  The physical signs can be overt, unless one has covered him/herself ...